Steve Ford focuses his practice solely on workers’ compensation and mediation. Kee Spree practices in the areas of workers’ compensation, estate planning, probate, tax and business law. They have over 50 years of combined experience representing injured workers in workers’ compensation cases all over the State of Alabama and have successfully resolved well in excess of 3,000 workers’ compensation cases. Steve Ford and Kee Spree are the co-author and contributing author, respectively, of the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Law and Handbook published by LexisNexis and frequently write articles on workers’ compensation in Alabama.
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Steve Ford has been practicing law and representing injured workers in their workers compensation claims for 42 years in courts all over the State of Alabama. He attended law school at the University of Alabama and graduated in 1978. He has been president of the Tuscaloosa Bar Association and enjoys the highest rating from Martindale-Hubble as an attorney. He is co-founder and past chairperson of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Alabama State Bar and has represented the Alabama State Bar in negotiations and legislative sessions regarding workers’ compensation reform. He is a member of the Legal Advisory Committee for workers’ compensation with the Alabama Department of Labor. Steve is a member of the editorial board of the Alabama Association for Justice Journal and is a frequent lecturer and author of articles on workers’ compensation law. He served as adjunct professor teaching workers’ compensation at the University of Alabama School of Law from 1997-2004. Steve is co-author of the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Law and Handbook published by LexisNexis in 1999, with a second edition being published in 2004. Steve has been listed in the “Best Lawyers in America” published by Woodward and White from 1995 to present in workers’ compensation. On a personal note, he played football for the University of Alabama under Coach Paul Bear Bryant from 1971-1974.
Kee Spree was raised in Boligee, Alabama. Kee attended the University of West Alabama on a baseball scholarship and was also a recipient of an Alabama Society of Certified Public Accountants Educational Foundation Scholarship. He graduated in 2003 from the University of West Alabama with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting. In 2005, Kee received a Master of Accountancy from The University of Alabama. He was awarded an academic scholarship and earned his Juris Doctorate magna cum laude in 2010 from the Mississippi College School of Law. Kee was the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and Law Office Management. In 2011, Kee graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law with an LLM in Taxation. He was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in September 2010. Kee practices in the areas of workers’ compensation, estate planning, probate, tax, and business law. He is a member of the Tuscaloosa County Bar Association and the Tuscaloosa Estate Planning Council. Kee is a contributing author to the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Law and Handbook published by LexisNexis and serves on the journal committee for the Alabama Association for Justice.
Traumatic injuries such as falling off a ladder, loss of body part(s), lifting, pulling or pushing heavy objects, slipping or tripping on stairs, floors or walkways, being hit by an object, suffering severe burns, sustaining an injury while operating machinery, etc. are covered under the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act. Any type of injury or death that occurs while an employee is on the job may be covered under workers’ compensation. Occupational exposure cases are also covered where an employee is injured because of exposure to toxic and hazardous substances such as chemicals, gases, vapors, fumes, dust and mists while on the job. A cumulative trauma injury, such as carpel tunnel syndrome or hearing loss, is covered under workers’ compensation. Psychological injuries are also compensable under the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act if the psychological injury is a result of a physical injury.
It was a great privilege for Steve Ford to co-author the First Edition and the Second Edition of the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Law and Handbook. The purpose and underlying motivation for this book was to offer a lawyer, judge, or student a balanced work that brought together substantive workers’ compensation law and practical hands-on advice on how to handle a workers’ compensation case. Steve Ford and Kee Spree author a supplement each year to update the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Law and Handbook with new case law and developments in workers’ compensation.